NEHGS NEXUS, Vol. Vlll, No. 6 20: Sherwin Family d. Malone 7 April 1864, dau. of Francis and Eunice 1810 Chester, Vt. census; 10-16 in the1820cen.o:;us, (Holden) Harris. C hild ren of Daniel and Mary (Har­ nnd 2G-30 in 1830. Harriet statcJ in her 1841 lc:>ttcr to her ris), the first b. Shirley, others b. Malone, N.Y.: /01111 M. niece Uiat she had been a schoolteacher "for many Slierwin, b. ca. 1809, d. 16 June 1837; Fra11cis H. Slier­ years." win, b. 30 Dec. 1814, d. 6 March 1895, m. 2 Nov. 1840 viii. (prub.) Fanny Sherwin, b. at. June 1805, d. Chester 6 Dec. Mary 1\1111 Wilson; Polly Slien11i11, b. ca. 1824; Lerona K. 1805, ae. 5 mos. (VT VRs). (vi.) and (viii.) arc listed ;is Slienuin, b. 25 Jru1. 1827, d . 18 Nov. 1918, m. William daus. of Da niel only because they are bur. in IJrooksklt 5 6 S. Hel111s; Stillman Sl1envin, b. ca. 1829; Rlrorla Slier­ Ccm., C hester, where Daniel and John were bur. also. win, b. ca. 1833, m. D .E. Hastings (Cram Papers). ix. One other male, s ince Ha rriet referred to not hearing ii. John Sherwin, b. prob. Townsend ca. 1783, d. Chesler, from "either of my other brothers." (Mrs. Fisher sug­ Vt. 8 Jan . 1808, ae. 24 (in VT VRs called son of "Capt. gests Ulat lhe other bro. mny be Samuel S hCTwin, hcnd Daniel rutd Abigail" Sherwin). of a household in C hester, Vt. in 1810 and 1820, and i11 iii. Bild ad Sherwin, b. prob. Andover, Vt. 29 Oct. 1792, d. Grafton, Vt. in 1830. He died in Grafton .''age 53 yea%' 2 Orlru1d, Steuben Co., Ind iana 21 Dec. 1841 (Gmy, 36); m. June 1840 (VT VRs); news of his death might not have prob. Cheste r or Dorset, Vt. ca. 1811 PhiJinda Rider, reached his sister Ha rriet by May 1841. Samuel's w ifo b. Dorset 20 March 1794, d. Jackson or O rla1ct_1 5 Sept. was Roxa11a - , named on the death l\'C. of thC' ir son 7 6 1837, dau. of Stephen Rider (Ebe11ezer , jolr11 ~ Ziic11- Daniel. 1l1e will of Ira Sherwin, another son of S<tntlll'I 1 6 nry2, Sn11111el ) and his wife Lorena Gray (Jo/rr( , Erl­ who d. Grafton, Vt. "age 23 years" 23 May 1849, mer 1 m·1rd'1-J...2, Jo/r11 ) (Fremont Rider, Preli111i11ary Mnlerinls fvr tions siblings Jan1cs; Juliette; Minervn, wife of Jonas H. n Ge11enlogy of t/1e Rider (Ryder) Fnmilies i11 tire U11itaf Amsden; Jolm M.; Shennan; and Abigail, wil'e of Hose; Slates, v. 2 (1 959), unpg.; Gmy, 25, 35). Bildad and Phil­ Lamphear. Samuel's approx. bi.rthda te of 1787 " fits" 5 inda are bur. in Jackson Prairie Cem., Jnckson Twp., into the family of Daniel Sherwin, but Samuel has Steuben Co., Indiana. IJildad Sherwin served as a private not· yet been certainly identified. in Capt. John Weed's Co. of Volunteer Riflemen, Col Clark's Volunteer Corps, War of 1812, from 20 Sept.-17 This partial report on one family during the "cen­ Nov. 1813 (Military Service Recs., War of 1812, #254, Na­ tury of lost ;mcestors'' identifies Bildad Sherwin's origin tionaJ A.n:hives). Uildad and his w ife res. Chester, Vt., and provides a framework for further research. I am ir until ca. 1820. A farmer, he bought land in Bergen, Gen­ debted to Mrs. jean Fisher of Fanning ton, Conn., and esee Co., N.Y. 18 April 1820 (Genesee Co., N.Y. Deeds, to Phillip A. Laird of Erie, Penn., both cited earlier, fo 18:276), and moved to Indiana ca. 1836 (H.W. Morley, Uleir contributions. Queries and correspondence do help! History of Sle11 be11 Co., /11din11n [1 955], 49, 376). Mnry B. Sherwood 's previous co11tril111fio11s to NEXUS iv. Abigail "Nabby'' Sherwin, b. perhaps 1793; m. (4(1 987 /:29) £/11- Chester 24 April 1814 John Morris (VT VRs). They had were "771e Barbour Co1111edio11 " and "771c at least three daughters; the U1ird, Sarah Morris , d. ca. sive Benja111i11 Porter (1 760-1841 )" (7{1990 /:58-59). She /ins 1841 (Harriet Sherwin letter). written for tlte Mayflower Quarterly, and is tlte author of Pilgrim: A Biography of William Brewster (1982) a11d v. Ira Sherwin, b. prob. Chester, Vt. ca. 1796 (based on Nicholas Burke (1 8.38-1878), Margaret Shannon (1 838- age in 1850 census, Erie Co., Penn., p. 95), d . Harbor: creek 25 Oct. 1859; m. prob. Penn. 10 Aug. 1826 Sarah 1916): Their Descendants and a Few Ancestors (1985). Wilson, b. Erie Co., Penn. 10 Aug. 1800, d. Harbor­ Before ltcr relirc111e11t site was a writer for tltc U.S. !11fom111- creek 8 March 1888. 1l1eir children, all b. Penn. (birth­ fion Agency. /11f crestcd readers 111ay write ltcr nt 7402 La11- datcs cak. from 1850 census): Harriet£. Shenvin, b. ca. lta111 Rd., Falls Clt urd1, VA 22043. 1827, m. A.H. Traci], res. Monmouth, Illinois; ]01111 0. S lz erwin, b. ca. 1829, m. Elizabetlt A11rlers o11 , res. in Nebraska; George W.F. S /1en11in, b. ca. 1831, d. Erie, Penn. 24 Sept. 1887, m. prob. in Penn. 3 Jan. 1861 Sarah Je1111ic Moorlzearl, b. Harborcreek 1 Ja n. 1830, d. Erie 29 March 1892; Saralz Abbie Slze1wi11, b. ca. 1835, m. Judith S. Carman prob. Harborcreek 28 Ja n. 1862 Newell S . West , res. Traer, Iowa; Nancy Slz erwi11, b. ca. 1838, living 1850; Genealogical Research and Consulting JosL>pl1i11e Barr S l1erwi11, b. Harborcreek 1838, d. there 1917, unm.; Man1 Fatima Slien11i11, b. Ha rborcreek Speciali z ing in: 1841, d. there 1917, unm. (Aa:orcling to Phillip A. Laird, Virginia West Virginia Kentucky Josephine Barr Sherw in, not listed in the census, was Tennessee North Carolina. named in family records as a dau. of Ira, and is bur. in 2512 Summit Ridge Rd., NE the family lot in Erie Cem.) Roanoke, VA 24012 vi. (prob.) Patty Sherwin, b. ca. 1800, d . C hester 27 May 1803, ae. 3 yrs. (Mn 1111i11g, 210). Se11d SASE for fofon11ntio11. vii. Harriet Sherwin, b. prob. Cl1ci;ter ca. 1804, liv. Harbor­ creek, Penn. in May 1841. She was p rob. the female ae. unde r IO in the household of Daniel Sherwin in the NEHGS NEXUS, Vol. VllI, No. 6 199 the first time, you will have the added benefits of your cousin's familiarity with the language, area, and local customs. Perhaps you can even persuade them to ex­ plore some of the k>cal record repositories before your arrival. In the fall of 19821 made just such a research trip. Although not of Italian ancestry myself, I have long been interested in a certain fami ly named Del Vecchio that lived in New York City in the early 1800s. In the course of researching a branch of my mother's family, I found that the wedding of my great-grandparents, Mark and Harriet Ann (Irish) Wray, at Flushing, N.Y. 16October1850, was actually a double ceremony. Harriet's sister Emma married Joseph John Paul Del Vecchio the same day (New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, 110 ll979 l: 72). Additionally, I fow1d that an Irish family Bible owned by a cousin showed The comune of Moltrasio, as seen from Lake Como. Photo by that Joseph Del Vecchio died in 1866 (see David Curtis D.C. Dearborn. Dearborn, "The Irish Family of England and New York City," The Genealogist, 3 [19821: 5, 12-13, 21). The more I registers kept by the Roman Catholic Church for bap­ researd1ed the Del Vecdtios, the more fascinated I became. tisms, marriages and burials. Although I had not made Joseph's faU1er, Charles Del VecdUo (ca. 1787-1854), along a prior appointment to see the local parrocco (priest), I with several of Joseph's uncles, came to New York was anned with letters of introduction. The late geneal­ City in the first decade of the 1800s and these brothers ogist John Insley Coddington, w ho in 1960 had planned quickly established themselves as makers a nd sellers (but never undertook) a similar research expedition to of looking-g lasses and dealers in prints, frames and the neighboring parish of Ravenna, supplied me with artists' supplies (see Betty Ring, "Check List of Look­ letters to the local bishop and parish priest written by a ing-Glass and Frame Makers and Merchants Known personal friend, a monsignore attached to the Vatican by Their Labels," Antiques, 119[19811:1182; Desmond Secretary of State. I presented these, along wilh a cover Fitz-Gerald, ''The Dublin Del Vecchios," Antiques, 120 letter written in Italian by John, to the parrocco. Im­ 11 981]: 910-14). Happily for me, two of the undes, pressed, he generously allowed me full access to the Joseph and John, died unmarried in New York City in registers, wh.id1 were arranged in a series of small books 1815, leaving w ills with nearly identical provisions in fine condition, kept in a cupboard in his office. and naming their mother, Giovanna Del Vecchio, of The priest spoke no English and he had no photo­ the parish of Moltrasio on Lake Como in Italy. Now I copier, so it was up to me to make w hat sense I could knew w here to look in Italy to find their ancestors. of Ule registers. There were separate books for baptisms, Lake Como is nestled among the Italian Alps on marriages and deaths, a nd a ll were written in a clear, the Swiss border, less than an hour's train ride north ltaJic hand.